"When the people fear their GOVERNMENT, there is TYRANNY; when the government fears the PEOPLE, there is LIBERTY."
Thomas Jefferson (an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809))


Before you cast a stone at me please read through this piece. As par the choice of my title, well, I adopted it from a site (http://www.saniabacha.com/index1.php?getpage=home) I ‘stumbled’ on while researching on this piece. Infact, a better title would have been “NEVER AGAIN! . . . remembering the Tyranny of General Sani Abacha”. Isn’t it funny that Abacha could be a Hero to some people?


Now that I’m sure we are on the same page, may I proceed to plead my case?


Yesterday, June 8th, 2012, marked the 14th year since Nigeria witnessed a ‘turning point’ with the death of one of the worst tyrant in the history of the world: Gen Sani Abacha. Abacha was a military dictator and de facto President of Nigeria from November 17, 1993 – June 8, 1998 whose regime was synonymous with human rights violations and allegations of corruption. Abacha died of heart failure (some say Idian Chicks did the job but. . .) on June 8, 1998 and was replaced by General Abdulsalami Abubakar who eventually handed over to a democratic elected President thus shutting the doors on the military.


Abacha: Naija's only Maradona


I remembered vividly the 'weird' celebratory mood in the country when the news of his demise was announced that fateful day, fourteen years ago. As a teenager then, I was simply confused why the death of the Head of a Nation could provoke such reactions but I was soon cured of my innocence and ignorance by my aged landlord then (Pa Williams Oluoga of blessed memory). Pa Williams took me through what could well pass for a history class on the facts and gory details of the madness Nigeria underwent during Abacha’s regime. All I could say was: “NEVER AGAIN!”


Never again would our country, Nigeria, go through this path again. Not in my lifetime!


I doubt if the Nigerian nation would have walked this path of democracy were Abacha still alive today. History demands that we take a look back at the past and understand where are coming from or where we used to be (past), as a nation; where we are presently (now) and where we are headed (future).


What I try to achieve with this piece is to document the unbroken will of a people against all odds, the tenacity and willingness to ‘begin all over again’ at the task of nation building, fourteen years ago. The never-say-die Nigerian spirit which refused to give up in the face of one of the deadliest tyrants the world has ever seen. The triumph of a people who refused to give-in to the pettiness of those days nor give-up on a nation in dire need of the patriotic energy of its people. But above all, the amazing grace of a loving God!


I have attempted to catalogue the pains and the joys, the challenges and the victories, the uphill task of building and nurturing a nascent democracy. A democracy we seem to be taking for granted given the recent happenings in our nation.

Abacha’s Dark Era: NEVER AGAIN!
Abacha took over power from the caretaker government of Chief Ernest Shonekan, who was put into place by General Ibrahim Babangida after his annulment of the 12 June 1993 elections (won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola), this caused a massive popular uproar, which in turn caused untold hardship for millions of Nigerians.


As a measure of exercising his iron grip on power, on 6 September 1994, Abacha declared that his regime had absolute power, placing his government above the jurisdiction of the courts. He did, however, promise to hand the government over to civilians in 1998. To many activists, this singular act signified a death sentence. And many paid with their lives!


Despite his stated commitment to returning the country to democracy, Abacha's government was accused of human rights abuses, especially after the hanging of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Oputa Commission (only one of several executions of Ogoni activists opposed to the exploitation of Nigerian resources by the multinational petroleum company, Royal Dutch Shell Group); Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo were jailed for treason, and Wole Soyinka charged in absentia with treason. His regime suffered stiff opposition internally and externally by pro-democracy activists who made the regime unpopular and responded by banning political activity in general and by controlling the press in particular; a significant fraction of th.


Gen. Sani Abacha: Their hero! military was purged.


Perhaps as a demonstration of his innermost feeling of insecurity, Abacha surrounded himself with approximately 3,000 armed men loyal to him. An African adage says: 'The man whom the gods would kill, they will first make dumb.' His government compared to other Nigerian governments was characterized by an inconsistent foreign policy: He supported the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and sent Nigerian troops to Liberia and Sierra Leone to restore democracy to those countries while denying it at home. Abacha scoffed at the threat of economic sanctions on account of the world's dependence on petroleum, of which Nigeria is a major producer.


During Abacha's regime, a total of £5 billion was reported siphoned out of the country's coffers by the head of state and members of his family. Peter Lewis in his book 'Growing Apart: Oil, Politics, And Economic Change in Indonesia And Nigeria' (2007) listed Abacha as the world's fourth most corrupt leader in recent history.


In what is considered as sheer hypocrisy in some quarters, it is worthwhile to note that despite being repeatedly condemned by the US State Department, Abacha did have a few ties to American politics. In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) travelled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of "The Family", a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders. Abacha (although being a Muslim) and The Family had a business and political relationship from that point until his death.


Abacha also developed ties with other American political figures such as Senator Carol Mosley Braun, Rev. Jessie Jackson and Minister Louis Farrakhan. Several African American political leaders visited Nigeria during his reign and Farrakhan supported the regime, while it was seen as an international pariah. Farrakhan also had a street in Nigeria named after him. The street name was changed back to its original name after Abacha's death.


The world watched helplessly as Nigerians lived with terror. Being an activist was a wrong job in those days. If you didn't die through a 'letter bomb' like Dele Giwa, be sure to be kidnapped or simply incaserated for daring to insult his Lordship, the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.


The military Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under Abubakar commuted the sentences of those accused in the alleged coup during the Abacha regime and released almost all known civilian political detainees. The rest, they say, is history.


ABACHA: A Hero?!
History of nations is nothing but the biographies of men: great men and women, the victors and villains, the history makers and the victims of history. A wise man once said: “In life, we would only be remembered for two things: (1.) The Problems we created; and (2.) The Solutions we proffered.” Hate him or like him but the history of Nigeria’s march towards Democracy and the 4th Republic cannot be complete without the mention of the name ‘Sani Abacha’.


Whether he is a hero or not is still being debated but one thing is clear: Abacha was never a Leader! Addressing him as one is an insult to great leaders everywhere in the world.


Although Abacha remains a hero to some select few like his family members and ofcourse the few beneficiaries of his wanton madness. Infact, some of these people believe Abacha was not a demon afterall.


Some of the achievements recorded during his ‘rule’, according to his fans, are: (1.) Stability of the Naira during his regime, between 1994 and 1998 the value of the Naira against the US Dollar fluctuated between 17.30-21.89 at Official Rates and 21.90-84.70 at the Parallel Market respectively (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_naira); (2.) Unavailability of ethnic, regional or religion crisis and upheavals like Boko Haram and thus absence of monumental bloodletting and insecurity that we currently face (yes, we were safe but not ‘free’!); (3.) He was able to create more states and address some imbalances, e.g. Ekiti, Ebonyi and Bayelsa without the scandals and noise we witness in a democratic setting; (4) The infamous ‘Failed Bank Tribunal’; (5.) The somewhat historic ‘Two Million Rally’ in Abuja led by one Daniel Kanu (I wonder where such men are these days. It seems some of them (sycophants) have since taken a permanent residence in Aso Rock) to mention but few.



Protesters rallying against the implementation of the Farouk Lawan led probe into the Management of Fuel Subsidy in Nigeria.



One thing common to all these achievements is Corruption! Many would argue that the only people who seemingly benefitted from his rule are the ones who would see something good in Abacha’s days at the helms of affairs of our nation. Well, not really. I think the strenght, toughness and character of the Nigerian nation was tested druring his regime and it passed albeit with bruises.


14 Years After . . .
Some may argue about the essence of this piece, they may ask: ‘why remember the life of a brutal dictator whose stock in trade was political assassination of vocal opposition?’ While many may question my intention to elaborate on this dark but defining chapter in our national life and may want us to quickly ‘turn the page’; I think it is expedient that we take a look back in order to appreciate how far we have come in our journey as a democratic nation.


Whether we appreciate those sacrifices or not is a debate for another.


Fellow Nigerians, all that our matyrs and patriots fought and died for are still with us today. The insensitivity of a government that says we, as a people, do not matter. That our voice do not count, eventhough our votes got them into office!


Fourteen years after Abacha, we have successfully built one of the most expensive democracies in the world in which our lawmakers allegedly earn more than the President of the most powerful nation in the world, Barack Obama. Our people live under the most primitive conditions known to man: roads with potholes and craters, schools with unmotivated teachers and dilapidated facilities, hospitals with insufficient medical amenities, a government that is out-of-touch with the governed, a judiciary swimming in corruption and political manipulation, a political class seemingly jinxed with corrupt enrichment, politicians who are integrity-deficient and morally bankrupt; and religious institutions that have abandoned their responsibility as a symbol of socio-political and community renewal. These days, there are more men of God and ‘less of God’ in men!


ALL Hope Is Not Lost!
However, all hope is not lost. You will agree with me that Nigeria's return to democracy has had its fair share of positive developments in Communications, Banking and virtually all other sectors.


There’s nothing WRONG with Nigeria that cannot be resolved with what is RIGHT with Nigeria!


We need to continue in the task of holding our goverment accountable thus making them fear us. If the 'Occuppy Nigeria' protests thought us anything, it is that we, the people, are the government! We need to remind the ruling class that whatever power they seem to wield now was 'democraitcally' given to them by us (the people) and can be withdrawn. Gone are those days when we fear our government. That moment in our history is dead and buried!


We need not agonize but organize. Let's remember the sacrifices of men and women whose blood bought us the freedom we enjoy this day. More importantly, we need to be courageous about the sacrifices and battles ahead. We are not in El-Dorado yet. So we need not rest on our oars but move consistently and steadily towards charting a great future for Nigeria. . . We shall get THERE!


What we achieved then gives us hope for what we can and must achieve now. Nigeria will SURVIVE. Nothing, no one and no conspiracy theory can defeat the WILL of the Nigerian people.


Lastly, let me close with this inspiring quote from Musiliu, a Lagos 'Danfo' (bus) conductor: "Don't always expect CHANGE to be given to you at all time. . . You MUST bring CHANGE too!" As Mahatma Ghandi said: "You must be the CHANGE you want to see in your world!"



Musiliu. . . Wisdom from the Streets of Lasgidi!



We are the CHANGE that we seek; we are the ones we’ve been WAITING for!


May the LABORS of our (true) heroes past not be in vain!


Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!


Wale Salami (c) 2012




About The Author
‘Wale Salami is a youth development expert, democracy and good governance activist, community organizer and a highly sought after speaker. As a community organizer, he played a crucial role in inspiring youth consciousness that gave birth to the fuel subsidy removal protest tagged: ‘Occupy Nigeria’ across Nigeria



The Young Shall Grow!

ABACHA IS TRUELY A LEADER.THATS ALL I GOT TO SAY

Abacha was visionary leader

@captainbraide: Really? Can you please share with me some of the qualities that Abacha possessed that made him a great leader? Thank you

@GenBuhari: Really? Seriously?

Unfortunate, failure of clueless people turn Gen. Abacha to hero in the sight of some people.

Gen. Abacha was a baaaaaddd leader.

juman: Unfortunate, failure of clueless people turn Gen. Abacha to hero in the sight of some people.

Gen. Abacha was a baaaaaddd leader.

Yes, but better then GEJ.

I beg to disagree.

Abacha was not bad leader at all he was a visionary leader.

He performed very well economically

[size=20pt]When President Clinton was presented with Abacha's bio by U.S. security officials, he later recounted that Abacha's profile was the worst he had ever read.

Abacha suffered from a myriad of diseases and vices. He contracted syphilis early in his career in Port-Harcourt which later manifested in his tyrannical and maddening behavior which will later haunt Nigeria as a whole.

He alienated and demoted Nigeria's standing amongst nations, befriended fellow despots like Gadaffi and then North Korea's leader.

A kleptomaniac who ruled Nigeria like his personal Kingdom, enthroning his sons and family members in key sectors especially the oil sector. He entrenched corruption, promoted regionalism. You must all be aware that it was during his reign that Nigeria began to import fuel and foul smelling one at that. He bombed, ordered driveby's and whisked individuals who dared to criticize him to secret prisons.
His reign is synonymous to murders, extra-judicial killings and exploitation.
May he burn in hell.[/size]

@Juman: Whether clueless or not, can we really compare Abacha's days to even the worst or most clueless democratic leader?

@O.D.B: And where did you get amazing stats of yours from? I dey laff oh!

Ignorance reigns!

They say that the empty vessels make the loudest noise.

I can bet that most that are shouting about Abacha being bad are not aware of, of have never bothered find out through published stats how Abacha actually performed economically.

The fact pf the matter is that I have researched Abacha regime, and the man was honest, visionary and patriotic leader.

He was maliciously and unjustly discredited by enemis of Nigeria including: Obasanjo, Babangida and his side-kick Abdulsalami Abubakar, who have since gone on to ruin Nigeria.

A simple fact to prove his leadership that all can verify easily is to realise that our only 2 olympic gold medal was won during his rule. Guess what\/ we also won our last Africa Nations Cup under Abacha.

GenBuhari: Ignorance reigns!

They say that the empty vessels make the loudest noise.

I can bet that most that are shouting about Abacha being bad are not aware of, of have never bothered find out through published stats how Abacha actually performed economically.

The fact pf the matter is that I have researched Abacha regime, and the man was honest, visionary and patriotic leader.

He was maliciously and unjustly discredited by enemis of Nigeria including: Obasanjo, Babangida and his side-kick Abdulsalami Abubakar, who have since gone on to ruin Nigeria.

A simple fact to prove his leadership that all can verify easily is to realise that our only 2 olympic gold medal was won during his rule. Guess what\/ we also won our last Africa Nations Cup under Abacha.

shutup! you have a better chance of resurrecting him from the dead than convincing anybody here that Abacha was a saint.

you are so stoopid! considering an olympic medal and a football cup as achievements worthy of 6yrs of military dictatorship.

you sycophant, go back and crawl into whatever hole you crept out from.

Which bit pf my post are you disagreeing with?

That we won our only olympic gold medals under Abacha?

or are you disagreeing that we won our last Africa Nations cup under Abacha

There is no evidence of Abacha looting other than the conspiracy to accuse him have having money in foreign accounts, but I have found out that it was a concerted effort between Obj and foreign banks to claim money that was not stolen by Abacha was put into the foreign accounts by Abacha

so where did the abacha family get that amount of loot that was returned to the country?

was it from his pension?

My point my friend, is that the "loot" has never been traced in as having reached Nigeria accounts. There is no proof that the loot belonged to Abacha. The whole exercise of saying that loot was returned is to make Obasanjo lie that Abacha looted appear credible to gullible Nigeria public who do not ask any probing questions.

this conversation is over.

I have been suspecting for several months that Abacha never looted, and now I have discovered how Obasanjo and IBB consipired with associates and Foreign bankers to decieve Nigerians to believe that he looted.

Some background:

Abacha's achievements were said to include:

*The stablisation of the political terrain, after the annulment of the June 12, 1992 elections by General Babangida and the political upheavals that followed it, leading to the exit of General Babangida and the installation and the exit of the interim administration of Chief Ernest Shonekan.

*The stabilisation of the value of the naira and its stoppage from further devaluation (maintained at $1=N22 for his entire era);

*The increase in the country's foreign exchange reserves from $494 million dollars in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997;

*The improvement in the general standard of living of Nigerians during the regime;

*The establishment of the Petroleum Trust Fund and the improvement in the infrastructural services it occasioned;

*The caging of, and the reduction in the influences of the IMF/World Bank in the Nigerian economy, which reached its height during the regime of General Babangida;

*The prudent management of the annual budgets of the Federal Government; the reduction in the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997;

*Improvement in the salaries and pensions of public servants;

*The unprecedented provision of money for the settlement of internal debts which had been incurred by previous administrations but for which little or no provisions for their settlement had been made until the Abacha's regime.

*Oil prices were as low as $9/barrel , yet Abacha was able to also intervene in two regional conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia to play Nigeria's rightful role as a regional superpower.

*All privatisation (selling off of Nigeria's assets) were brought to halt by Abacha by 1995.

*Abacha inherited inflation rate of 54% from IBB in 1993 and had reduced it to 8.5% by 1998

*Abacha's Vision 2010 was submitted to Abacha in September, 1997. The Visioners consisted of 247 elite Nigerians, under the chairmanship of Chief (Dr.) Ernest Shonekan, the preceding head of state to General Abacha. The committee was assisted by 141 technical and secretariat staff, drawn from the Presidency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), federal ministries, the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the universities and the private sector. In addition, 29 Facilitators, 24 Resource persons, and 17 consultants, including foreign experts from Asia, Europe and America, participated in the Vision. The 247 members included the country's major emirs, obis, and obas, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, leading industrialists, commercialists, bankers and academicians, many of whom are now very prominent leaders in the ongoing Obasanjo reform administration. In its letter of transmission of the report to Abacha, the Visioners stated that, "The Report is the outcome of 12 plenary meetings, 57 around-the country meetings and workshops, 53 sub-committee meetings, field studies, and, thousands of memoranda from the public, including input from federal ministries, state governments, private sector institutions, Nigerians domiciled out of the country, and some foreigners who have interest in the welfare and livelihood of Nigeria". These foreigners are now called, " Development Partners" in the Obasanjo administration.

The Report proposed both immediate, short-term, medium term, and long-term measures to stimulate and grow the economy of Nigeria. The Committee rightly adumbrated that, "all of us, and not one single segment of the society or a single administration, could be strictly said to be responsible for our problems. The Committee then proceeded to ask, and answer, three questions about the country; viz: "Where we are, and why?" Where do we want to be?" And, "How do we get there", so that by 2010, Nigeria will be a democratic society, committed to making the basic needs of life affordable for everyone and creating Africa's leading economy?"

Now, please ask yourself what would prompt a blind probe of a government that had performed so well, other than pre-planned plot to assassinate his character after his assassination, to deflect attention from the really enemies of the state who had just stolen back power by poisoning Abacha.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=693700.msg8820027

[size=18pt]Please ask yourself what would prompt a blind probe for financial mismanagement of a leader that had performed so well?[/size]

My theory is that IBB and Obasanjo needed to scapegoat Abacha, to deflect attention from IBB and how he ruined the country.

Immediately after Abacha was poisoned I believe IBB was calling the shots from behind the scenes although Adulsalami Abubakar was the figure head transitional Head of State.

I believe IBB wanted to blame Abacha for Nigeria's problems as he had ambitions of returning eventually to the seat of power (maybe after Obj had served 1 term in office.









[size=21pt]Here is how I believe Obasanjo and IBB made it appear that Abacha had stolen money[/size]

Obasanjo and Babangida hired one of their associates who may have a foreign bank account already, pose as Abacha's associate.
IBB or Obj would have money transferred into their account and then in court they would falsely claim to be a business associate of Abacha and would agree to refund money to Nigerian Government,
However when the case is reported to the press Obasanjo's representatives would say that Abacha and his associates have has agree in court that to refund whatever large amount typically between $20million and about $600million.

For an instance if Abacha's had $0 and the associate had $1.5bn, some press reports would report Abacha and his cronies or associate or family and friends have $1.5bn in foreign accounts.

The reports never breakdown how much of money attributable to Abacha and how much to Obasanjo's hired "associates"









Now consider the following news story which is typical

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1606565.stm

[size=18pt]18 October, 2001, BBC News 12:45 GMT 13:45 UK
Britain goes after Abacha millions[/size]

The British High Court has given the government the go-ahead to help Nigeria trace more than $1bn allegedly looted by late dictator Sani Abacha.

The decision came after lawyers failed to challenge a Home Office decision to help Nigerian and Swiss officials recover money said to have been traced to London.
The Press Association said the lawyers were acting for Mohammed Abacha, the dictator's son, and Abubakar Bagudu, Abacha's London-based partner.

Nigeria is trying to recover more than $3bn allegedly embezzled during General Abacha's rule which ended with his death in 1998.

Britain was asked last year to help recover the money.

Account freeze

Six months ago, Britain's financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, revealed that 23 London banks had handled $1.3bn belonging to family and friends of General Abacha.

Earlier this month, judicial authorities in Britain reportedly ordered some of the world's largest banks to freeze accounts believed to belong to the dictator


[size=20pt]The big evidence I found that proves, my suspicion is that the named "associate" in the above BBC News story, Abubakar Bagudu turns out to be a full member of the PDP esablishment, who has been handsomely rewarded by being selected as PDP Senator for Kebbi 2008.


Ladies and Gentlemen this is the evidence that should indicate that there is a conspiracy to paint to delibrately paint Abacha as a looter.[/size]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abubakar_Atiku_Bagudu
[size=18pt]
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu was born on 26 December 1961.[1] Although Bagudu claimed to come from a wealthy family owning millions, in fact his father was formerly the director of Primary Education in Kebbi.[2] He obtained a BSc (Economics), Msc (Economics) and M.A. (International Affairs).[1]

Bagudu became a close friend of Ibrahim and Mohammed Abacha, sons of military ruler Sani Abacha.[3] He and Ibrahim Abacha were involved in a scheme to buy vaccines and resell them to the government at a steep mark-up, earning $66.6 million profit. Later, he helped divert much larger sums of money that had been earmarked for security spending into foreign accounts.[2]

After Abacha died in 1998, the interim military government that followed started an investigation into misuse of state funds. Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, his business manager, returned $750m. At that time, there were no criminal prosecution.[3] Bagudu moved to the USA in 2000, and in 2003 was detained there for six months on charges of financial misdeeds during the Abacha era. He was released in November 2003 on condition that he repaid about US$300 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria.[4] The administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo apparently made a deal to recover part of the money in return for dropping prosecution and leaving the remainder with the family.[5] Bagudu was Chairman of Phil Nugent Nigeria Ltd. from 2004 until December 2005[/size]

Have you noticed the total absence of reliable video interviews of Abacha's family members?

Nigerians please question everything you hear from our leaders and our corrupt press.





[size=18pt]And the same Bagudu was Chairman of Phil Nugent Nigeria Ltd. from 2004 until December 2005,
A company that went on to be awarded a $1billion contract by the government

http://naijanaz..com/2007/09/prelude-to-fraud.html.[/size]

SEN.BAGUDU ABUBAKAR ATIKU

Senator, 7th National Assembly (2011-2015)

Date of Birth: 1961-12-28
Marital Status: Married
Political Party: Peoples Democratic Party
State: Kebbi
Senatorial District: Kebbi Central
Date of Assumption: 2011-05-29
Seat Up Date: 2015-05-29
senatecontact@nass.gov.ng
Share Education:
BSc (Economics), Msc (Economics),
M.A. (International Affairs)


Awards & Honours:


Occupation: Legislator

Previous Elected Office:


Legistlative Experience:

http://www.nassnig.org/nass/portfolio/profile.php?id=sen.abubakarbagudu

I know it is impossible to penetrate some people with reason, but there has to a SOLID reason for Abacha's son to still be standing trial and contesting that the funds for which he was being tried belongs to him:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/swiss-court-orders-retrial-of-abachas-son/
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=abacha's%20son%20switxerland&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CAgQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.channelstv.com%2Fhome%2F2012%2F06%2F22%2Fabachas-son-to-face-fresh-swiss-trial%2F&ei=7vHkT8q3A4-C8ASblJm-Dg&usg=AFQjCNEUtKkp815BE5z3SxMsK6ok5bH6Vw[/url]

GenBuhari: I have been suspecting for several months that Abacha never looted, and now I have discovered how Obasanjo and IBB consipired with associates and Foreign bankers to decieve Nigerians to believe that he looted.

Some background:

Abacha's achievements were said to include:

*The stablisation of the political terrain, after the annulment of the June 12, 1992 elections by General Babangida and the political upheavals that followed it, leading to the exit of General Babangida and the installation and the exit of the interim administration of Chief Ernest Shonekan.

*The stabilisation of the value of the naira and its stoppage from further devaluation (maintained at $1=N22 for his entire era);

*The increase in the country's foreign exchange reserves from $494 million dollars in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997;

*The improvement in the general standard of living of Nigerians during the regime;

*The establishment of the Petroleum Trust Fund and the improvement in the infrastructural services it occasioned;

*The caging of, and the reduction in the influences of the IMF/World Bank in the Nigerian economy, which reached its height during the regime of General Babangida;

*The prudent management of the annual budgets of the Federal Government; the reduction in the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997;

*Improvement in the salaries and pensions of public servants;

*The unprecedented provision of money for the settlement of internal debts which had been incurred by previous administrations but for which little or no provisions for their settlement had been made until the Abacha's regime.

*Oil prices were as low as $9/barrel , yet Abacha was able to also intervene in two regional conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia to play Nigeria's rightful role as a regional superpower.

*All privatisation (selling off of Nigeria's assets) were brought to halt by Abacha by 1995.

*Abacha inherited inflation rate of 54% from IBB in 1993 and had reduced it to 8.5% by 1998

*Abacha's Vision 2010 was submitted to Abacha in September, 1997. The Visioners consisted of 247 elite Nigerians, under the chairmanship of Chief (Dr.) Ernest Shonekan, the preceding head of state to General Abacha. The committee was assisted by 141 technical and secretariat staff, drawn from the Presidency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), federal ministries, the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the universities and the private sector. In addition, 29 Facilitators, 24 Resource persons, and 17 consultants, including foreign experts from Asia, Europe and America, participated in the Vision. The 247 members included the country's major emirs, obis, and obas, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, leading industrialists, commercialists, bankers and academicians, many of whom are now very prominent leaders in the ongoing Obasanjo reform administration. In its letter of transmission of the report to Abacha, the Visioners stated that, "The Report is the outcome of 12 plenary meetings, 57 around-the country meetings and workshops, 53 sub-committee meetings, field studies, and, thousands of memoranda from the public, including input from federal ministries, state governments, private sector institutions, Nigerians domiciled out of the country, and some foreigners who have interest in the welfare and livelihood of Nigeria". These foreigners are now called, " Development Partners" in the Obasanjo administration.

The Report proposed both immediate, short-term, medium term, and long-term measures to stimulate and grow the economy of Nigeria. The Committee rightly adumbrated that, "all of us, and not one single segment of the society or a single administration, could be strictly said to be responsible for our problems. The Committee then proceeded to ask, and answer, three questions about the country; viz: "Where we are, and why?" Where do we want to be?" And, "How do we get there", so that by 2010, Nigeria will be a democratic society, committed to making the basic needs of life affordable for everyone and creating Africa's leading economy?"

Now, please ask yourself what would prompt a blind probe of a government that had performed so well, other than pre-planned plot to assassinate his character after his assassination, to deflect attention from the really enemies of the state who had just stolen back power by poisoning Abacha.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=693700.msg8820027

[size=18pt]Please ask yourself what would prompt a blind probe for financial mismanagement of a leader that had performed so well?[/size]

My theory is that IBB and Obasanjo needed to scapegoat Abacha, to deflect attention from IBB and how he ruined the country.

Immediately after Abacha was poisoned I believe IBB was calling the shots from behind the scenes although Adulsalami Abubakar was the figure head transitional Head of State.

I believe IBB wanted to blame Abacha for Nigeria's problems as he had ambitions of returning eventually to the seat of power (maybe after Obj had served 1 term in office.









[size=21pt]Here is how I believe Obasanjo and IBB made it appear that Abacha had stolen money[/size]

Obasanjo and Babangida hired one of their associates who may have a foreign bank account already, pose as Abacha's associate.
IBB or Obj would have money transferred into their account and then in court they would falsely claim to be a business associate of Abacha and would agree to refund money to Nigerian Government,
However when the case is reported to the press Obasanjo's representatives would say that Abacha and his associates have has agree in court that to refund whatever large amount typically between $20million and about $600million.

For an instance if Abacha's had $0 and the associate had $1.5bn, some press reports would report Abacha and his cronies or associate or family and friends have $1.5bn in foreign accounts.

The reports never breakdown how much of money attributable to Abacha and how much to Obasanjo's hired "associates"









Now consider the following news story which is typical

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1606565.stm

[size=18pt]18 October, 2001, BBC News 12:45 GMT 13:45 UK
Britain goes after Abacha millions[/size]

The British High Court has given the government the go-ahead to help Nigeria trace more than $1bn allegedly looted by late dictator Sani Abacha.

The decision came after lawyers failed to challenge a Home Office decision to help Nigerian and Swiss officials recover money said to have been traced to London.
The Press Association said the lawyers were acting for Mohammed Abacha, the dictator's son, and Abubakar Bagudu, Abacha's London-based partner.

Nigeria is trying to recover more than $3bn allegedly embezzled during General Abacha's rule which ended with his death in 1998.

Britain was asked last year to help recover the money.

Account freeze

Six months ago, Britain's financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, revealed that 23 London banks had handled $1.3bn belonging to family and friends of General Abacha.

Earlier this month, judicial authorities in Britain reportedly ordered some of the world's largest banks to freeze accounts believed to belong to the dictator


[size=20pt]The big evidence I found that proves, my suspicion is that the named "associate" in the above BBC News story, Abubakar Bagudu turns out to be a full member of the PDP esablishment, who has been handsomely rewarded by being selected as PDP Senator for Kebbi 2008.


Ladies and Gentlemen this is the evidence that should indicate that there is a conspiracy to paint to delibrately paint Abacha as a looter.[/size]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abubakar_Atiku_Bagudu
[size=18pt]
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu was born on 26 December 1961.[1] Although Bagudu claimed to come from a wealthy family owning millions, in fact his father was formerly the director of Primary Education in Kebbi.[2] He obtained a BSc (Economics), Msc (Economics) and M.A. (International Affairs).[1]

Bagudu became a close friend of Ibrahim and Mohammed Abacha, sons of military ruler Sani Abacha.[3] He and Ibrahim Abacha were involved in a scheme to buy vaccines and resell them to the government at a steep mark-up, earning $66.6 million profit. Later, he helped divert much larger sums of money that had been earmarked for security spending into foreign accounts.[2]

After Abacha died in 1998, the interim military government that followed started an investigation into misuse of state funds. Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, his business manager, returned $750m. At that time, there were no criminal prosecution.[3] Bagudu moved to the USA in 2000, and in 2003 was detained there for six months on charges of financial misdeeds during the Abacha era. He was released in November 2003 on condition that he repaid about US$300 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria.[4] The administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo apparently made a deal to recover part of the money in return for dropping prosecution and leaving the remainder with the family.[5] Bagudu was Chairman of Phil Nugent Nigeria Ltd. from 2004 until December 2005[/size]

Have you noticed the total absence of reliable video interviews of Abacha's family members?

Nigerians please question everything you hear from our leaders and our corrupt press.





[size=18pt]And the same Bagudu was Chairman of Phil Nugent Nigeria Ltd. from 2004 until December 2005,
A company that went on to be awarded a $1billion contract by the government

http://naijanaz..com/2007/09/prelude-to-fraud.html.[/size]

^What is written in newspapers cannot be relied on as the truth, how do you think newspapers get the stories the print?
The get them from the same dishonest corrupt Obasanjo / PDP government who is trying to discredit Abacha.

Abacha's son were not going to court to defend the "loot" , they are going to court to try and clear their name, the stories that they are defending their "loot" was a lie simply fed to the press by Obasanjo /PDP government.

i laugh when i hear people talk of abacha as a bad person,u say his a killer count the number of murders and compare with obj,u say his a thief mension the amount and compare with only light issue in obj rain.the fact anybody u stand for african people the west makes him look bad vie the media

GenBuhari: Abacha was visionary leader

onoja12: i laugh when i hear people talk of abacha as a bad person,u say his a killer count the number of murders and compare with obj,u say his a thief mension the amount and compare with only light issue in obj rain.the fact anybody u stand for african people the west makes him look bad vie the media

same faggs

^ Thank you my friend.

There is a ton of corrupt politicians jumping on the bandwagon and claiming that their narrowly escaped being killed by Abacha.

This proves Abacha couldn't the successful / ruthless killer he is made out to be if so many of intended victims are narrowly escaping being killed by him. At the same time there is a lack of people claiming to have had relatives killed by Abacha.

clearly you are struggling in this debate

O.D.B.:





same faggs

o.d.b please go back and read then compare for yourself not what u are told

GenBuhari: clearly you are struggling in this debate

LMFAO! DEBATE WHAT PHUCKIN DEBATE
I WILL RATHER DINE WITH BOKOS THEN ARGUE WITH YOU!

That is right! O.D.P should try researching Abacha performance himself instead of swallowing propaganda fed to him

GenBuhari: That is right! O.D.P should try researching Abacha performance himself instead of swallowing propaganda fed to him

MOFO WTF did you jus call me?

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